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Helios on 08 April 2009
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WereKitten said:
puffy said:
To be the greatest story of all time, it means that more people have to say that it is over any other story so being a big seller is a MUST.

I mean ask every game player on the internet what they beleive the best game story is and I'm sure Planescape: Torment while it may be the best in your opinon would score VERY low due to it's sales and therefore would not be considered to have the best story of any game.

The industry is still in it's infancy and if MGS4 is considered near the top then obviously it's gonna be a long time because it's main story dellivery technique was through movies, which.. isn't a game..

Weird logic.

As little as I like the concept of "greatest story of all time", that surely means the greatest as in the prevalent opinion among those who actually read/experienced it and can pit it against other stories.

People who did not read it may claim that _for them_ the greatest story is a different one, but that's the wrong data to collect - popularity - because they have no informed opinion about how it would rank against something they did not read.

In other words: "Romeo and Juliet" surely isn't popular among secluded pygmy tribes, but I'm sure they would rate it very highly if someone took the time to translate it (or enact it) for them.

 

Adding to this, there are at least three ways in which a story (or work of art) can be evaluated. These are; (informed) popular opinion, academic study, and personal experience. Either way it's a subjective notion on which there will never be any real unanimity, and Monyleux would do well to remember that.

Also, I will say I generally dislike the "LITERATURE ROCKS!!1! lol!!" sentiment that is prevalent on these boards. It is very much the same kind of hubris that Molyneux displays in these interviews. The truth of the matter is that there are so many ways of expression other than the written word, and so many stories that can only be told through other media - video games included - that I find statements like "Books are just superior to Games in terms of storytelling and always will be" to be mind-bogglingly ignorant at best.